The residents of a sleepy, hilltop town in southern Italy have been protesting about migrants. More than 150 people in Ripabottoni -- an isolated community of 504 people -- signed a petition to halt the closure of their village's migrant hosting center, while other locals held a rally to stop it from closing, despite rising anti-migrant sentiment in other parts of the country.

Village residents told CNN the 32 migrants who arrived in 2016 had become an integral part of the small community, playing in the local football team, singing in the churches' choirs, attending local festivities and helping to create new jobs.